WEDNESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Juxtapid (lomitapide) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a rare inherited disorder in which the body is unable to remove low-density lipoprotein (LDL) "bad" cholesterol from the blood.

Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) affects about 1 million people in the United States, the agency said in a news release. The inability to remove LDL cholesterol from the blood often causes heart attacks and death before age 30, the FDA said.

Juxtapid, a once-daily capsule, is meant to be taken without food at least two hours before the evening meal, the agency said.

The drug was evaluated in a clinical study of 29 people with HoFH, causing a drop in LDL levels of about 50 percent in 26 weeks among those who tolerated the treatment. The drug's label carries a boxed warning of the potential for serious liver poisoning and progressive liver disease, the FDA said.